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The Santa Catalina Island Conservancy
was formed in 1972 to preserve and protect the native plants and animals, and
biotic communities of Santa Catalina Island.
History of Catalina
Although the bulk of Santa Catalina Island is now owned by the Catalina Island
Conservancy, whose charge it is to preserve the Island for posterity, Santa Catalina
Island has at various times been the private property of a number of individual
owners. Thomas Robbins was the first Californian to own the Island, having acquired
title from the last Mexican Governor of California, Pio Pico. Title passed from
Robbins to a number of different owners - each with his personal dream for this
isolated piece of land - until the Banning brothers purchased Santa Catalina
Island in the late 19th |
Philip K. Wrigley and Helen A. Wrigley
signing the gift of stock to the
Santa Catalina Island Conservancy. |
century. The Bannings planned to develop the Island as a resort, and much
of the initial development of Avalon took place during their ownership. When
William Wrigley Jr. acquired a majority interest in the Santa Catalina Island
Company from the Bannings in 1919, the destiny of the Island began to change
forever. This now-historic event cast the die for permanently preserving substantially
all of Santa Catalina Island in its natural state. During the next 56 years,
various conservation practices were initiated by the Wrigley-led Santa Catalina
Island Company, including much-needed animal controls, protection of watersheds
and reseeding of overgrazed areas.
The Conservancy
Throughout the term of the Wrigley family stewardship, the interest in conservation
increased. In 1972, members of the Wrigley family established the Santa Catalina
Island Conservancy as a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation
and preservation of Santa Catalina Island. On February 15, 1975, the final step
was taken to ensure the protection of the majority of Santa Catalina Island when
Mr. and Mrs. Philip K. Wrigley and Mrs. Dorothy Wrigley Offield, through the
Santa Catalina Island Company, deeded 42,135 acres of the Island to the Conservancy.
With this gift, the conservation and preservation of most of Catalina's interior
and 48 miles of its coastline were given permanent status in perpetuity. Prior
to this, in 1974, the Santa Catalina Island Company entered into a 50-year open
space agreement with Los Angeles County, guaranteeing public recreational and
educational use of 41,000 acres of Santa Catalina Island, consistent with good
land conservation practices. When the Conservancy received land title to most
of the Island a year later, it took over the responsibility for the County easement
of 41,000 acres of the Conservancy's 42,135 acres.
Purpose
The Conservancy's legal mandate is to preserve the Island's native plants
and animals, its biological communities and its geological and geographical formations
of educational interest. Equally important, the Conservancy is also charged with
managing the Island's open space lands and seeing that they are used solely for
the enjoyment of scenic beauty and for controlled recreational purposes. Its
responsibility is to preserve any one or more of such parcels on Conservancy-owned
land in and about Santa Catalina Island while keeping these lands open to the
general public with reasonable restrictions concerning the needs of the land.
The Conservancy also owns and operates the popular recreational Catalina Airport-in-the-Sky
and as an additional part of its commitment to providing public access, it maintains
most of the Island's interior roads. The Conservancy provides a Ranger service
both on land and along the shore to assist visitors and assure the security of
Conservancy property. |
